Clip for gathering a fragment of fabric in the folded state

ABSTRACT

Pleat to assemble a fragment of material in a folded state,
     characterized in that   it comprises a central panel ( 1 ) on the perimeter of which are elastically articulated, at their middle part ( 20 ), at least two attaching tabs ( 2 ) movable in rotation about an axis ( 5 ) between an open position or placing position and a closed position or pleating position, a spring ( 7 ) cooperating with each of the attaching tabs ( 2 ) to pull them back to the pleating position without any external stress being applied to it.

This invention refers to a pleat for attaching together a fragment of material in a folded state.

A pleat such as this can be used in many fields such as decoration, especially to obtain draping effects.

However, it is advantageously suited to the field of clothing and in particular allows a swimsuit to be folded at the buttocks or the side edges of shorts to be pulled up or the sleeves of a T-shirt to be raised, to bare the shoulders and increase the areas of the skin that may be exposed to the sun to reduce tanning marks.

So far, no product designed to fulfill this function has been available on the market.

This invention aims at filling this gap by providing a pleat comprising a central panel on the perimeter of which at least two attaching tabs are elastically articulated, at their middle part, movable in rotation about an axis between an open position or placing position and a closed position or pleating position.

A spring cooperates with each of the attaching tabs to pull it back it to the pleating position without any external stress being applied to it.

Note that, as understood from the invention, the term “panel” is to be interpreted very broadly and may correspond to a piece of any size and shape, whether flat, curved or faceted.

This pleat may, of course, be made of any material (precious or other metal, plastic, . . . ) and may comprise any number of attaching tabs without overstepping the scope of the invention.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the attaching tabs are essentially S-shaped and comprise a first or gripping end oriented towards the outside of the central panel and a second or pleating end oriented towards the inside of this panel.

The use of the pleat conforming to the invention is thus extremely simple in that it can be attached and removed very quickly by simple manipulation of the gripping ends of the attaching tabs with the fingers.

In addition, the manufacturing cost of these pleats can be very low, so that users can buy them for a moderate amount through a wide variety of sales channels (markets, supermarkets, drugstores, etc.).

According to another characteristic of the invention, the central panel has an exposed outer face, an inner face designed to be placed opposite the fragment of material to be assembled, and a peripheral collar facing the inner face and in which the ends of the axes of rotation of the attaching tabs are embedded.

Naturally, the aesthetics of the outer face, which can vary to a large extent (geometry, color, . . . ) must be chosen to be attractive to the user and suited to the use or the material for which it is intended.

This outer face can be equipped with ornamental items such as precious or non-precious stones thus giving it the appearance of a piece of jewelry.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the central panel has peripheral notches located near each of the axes of rotation of the respective attaching tabs to receive the middle part of these tabs.

The axes of rotation of the attaching tabs are thus inserted into these notches.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the springs are helical springs respectively mounted about the axis of rotation of each of the attaching tabs with one end attached on the inner face of the central panel while the other end is attached to the inner face opposite this attaching tab panel.

This is a particularly simple and inexpensive configuration but nevertheless robust enough to allow the pleats to be used many times.

The invention relates advantageously to a pleat of the above-mentioned type, characterized in that it comprises an essentially circular central panel and three attaching tabs distributed uniformly around its periphery.

This type of pleat is designed specially to lift all types of clothing such as T-shirts or swimsuits for men or women, and to reduce the tanning marks that many people find unattractive.

As an example, the pleat conforming to the invention can allow a body-covering bikini bottom to be converted into a thong almost immediately.

The characteristics of the pleat to which the invention refers will be described in greater detail by referring to the non-limiting drawings annexed hereto in which:

FIGS. 1a and 1b are perspective views of the closed pleat, seen from two different angles,

FIGS. 2a and 2b are perspective views similar to FIGS. 1a and 1b , but showing the pleat in the open position,

FIG. 3 shows the inner side of the pleat being held open manually forcibly,

FIG. 4 shows the pleat used to fold up the bottom of a woman's swimsuit at the buttocks to turn it into a thong,

According to FIGS. 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b , the pleat comprises essentially a circular panel 1 on the periphery of which are elastically articulated three S2-shaped attaching tabs on the middle part 20.

These tabs 2 have each on both sides of their middle part 20 a gripping end 21 oriented towards the outside of the central panel 1 and a pleating end 22 oriented towards the inside of this panel 1.

The central panel 1 has a convex outer face 10 which is left clear and an inner face 11 which can be seen in FIG. 3.

A collar 4 facing the inner side 11 surrounds the periphery of the central panel 1.

More precisely and according to FIGS. 1a and 3, the central panel 1 comprises three peripheral notches 3 each disclosing the central part of a rotation axis 5 about which an attaching tab 2 is articulated at its middle part 20.

The ends 6 of the rotation axes 5 of the attaching tabs 2 are recessed into the peripheral collar 4.

A helical spring 7 is mounted about each of these rotation axes 5 at its central part located opposite a peripheral notch 3.

A first end 8 of each of the springs 7 is attached to the inner face 11 of the central panel 1 while the second end 9 of these springs is attached to the inner face turned towards this panel 1 of the associated attaching tab 2.

When no external stress is exerted on them, the attaching tabs 2 are automatically pulled back by springs 7 to a pleating position as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1 b.

In this pleating position the pinching ends 22 of the attaching tabs 2 are folded back near one another opposite the inner face 11 of the central panel 1 as shown in FIG. 1 b.

In this way it is thus possible to secure a piece of material, such as the buttock-covering area of a swimsuit bottom M, between this inner face 11 and the pleated ends 22 of the attaching tabs 2 to transform it into a thong, as shown in FIG. 4.

From this position and by exerting a manual force to the gripping ends 21 of the attaching tabs 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the user can forcibly move these attaching tabs 2 into a placing position as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b in which the pleating ends 22 are located at a distance from each other and clear of the inner face 11 of the central panel 1. 

1. Pleat for attaching together a fragment of material of an article of clothing in a folded state, in particular allowing the bottom of a bathing suit covering the buttocks to be folded up to transform it into a thong or the side edges of shorts to be pulled up or the sleeves of a T-shirt to be raised, to bare the tops of the thighs or shoulders and increase the areas of the skin that may be exposed to the sun in order to reduce tanning marks, characterized in that it comprises a central panel (1) on which are elastically articulated, at their middle part (20), three attaching tabs (2) distributed around its perimeter, movable in rotation about an axis (5) between an open position or placing position and a closed position or pleating position, while a spring (7) cooperates with each of the attaching tabs (2) to return it to the pleating position without any external stress being applied to it.
 2. Pleat conforming to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a central panel (1) which is essentially circular.
 3. Pleat conforming to claim 1, characterized in that the attaching tabs (2) are essentially S-shaped and comprise a first end or gripping end (21) turned towards the outside of the central panel (1) and a second end or pleating end (22) turned towards the outside of this panel (1), the second ends (22) of the attaching tabs (2) being folded back near one another in the pleating position.
 4. Pleat conforming to claim 1, characterized in that the central panel has an exposed outer face (10), an inner face (11) designed to be placed opposite the fragment of material to be assembled, and a peripheral collar (4) facing the inner face (11) and in which the ends (6) of the axes of rotation (5) of the attaching tabs (2) are embedded.
 5. Pleat in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the central panel (1) comprises peripheral notches (3) located near each of the axes of rotation (5) of the attaching tabs (2) in order to accommodate the middle part (20) of these tabs.
 6. Pleat conforming to claim 1, characterized in that the springs (7) are helical springs respectively mounted about the axis of rotation (5) of each of the attaching tabs (2) with one end (8) attached on the inner face (11) of the central panel (1) while the other end (9) is attached to the inner face turned towards this associated attaching tab (2) panel.
 7. Process for assembling together a fragment of material of an article of clothing in the folded state, in particular for folding up a bottom of a bathing suit covering the buttocks to transform it into a thong or for pulling up the side edges of shorts or the sleeves of a T-shirt so as to bare the tops of the thighs or the shoulders and increase the areas of the skin that can be exposed to the sun to reduce the marks of tanning, characterized in that a pleat conforming to claim 1 is attached to the fragment of material to be folded. 